Could the Fixtures List Scupper Arsenal Before They Start?

With the release of the full fixtures list for the new Premiership season, fans and pundits alike always look for whether their favourite teams are going to have an easy run of it, or maybe a particularly tough period, but Arsenal fans have spotted something that gives them cause to worry, Bonusbets.com investigates.

Do the teams have an easy start to the season so that they can get ahead of the competition or do they have big games to maybe close the season when every point may count when they are fighting relegation. Though every team has to play every other twice, the order of the games can make a huge difference to team’s abilities to build momentum and succeed.

Would Liverpool or Manchester United have done better if they had faced each other later in the season rather than January 3rd? Or would Cardiff have had a better season and not been relegated if they hadn’t started the season by playing against five of the eventual top six in their first ten games?

It is hard to make a solid case to say that the run of fixtures determines performance, but anecdotally it does seem to make a difference, and it is this that is causing concern for Arsenal. Having finished the season just outside the top four and then followed this up with a massive loss to Chelsea 4-1 in the Europa league final then it is fair to say that spirits in the Arsenal camp aren’t high, so it would be key to get off to a great start in the new season.

However, the fixture list isn’t playing ball with Arsenal as they have both a tough start and a tough finish to the new season. They will have to face, not only the current European Champions, Liverpool, but also local rivals Tottenham in back to back games both at critical points during the season. The Gunners have lost to Liverpool 5-1 in their last meeting, and they have finished behind local rivals Spurs in both of the last two seasons, so it is fair to say that Arsenal isn’t looking forward to either of those matches.

They start by facing Liverpool on August 24th at Anfield, so a tough start. The following week they will host Spurs back at Emirates stadium. Then in the last four games of the season, they will face Spurs at their brand new stadium on April 25th followed by hosting Liverpool the following week back at home. This will make for a very tough start and finish for them. But whether it will affect their performance only time will tell.

But fans know that this isn’t good news for the team, and have taken to Twitter to express their concern for their team. Which is understandable, but with a fixture list that has to take so many different things into consideration there is always going to be one team that has a particularly tough time, this year it is Arsenals time.